We’re Taking Refinery29 Shopping To The Next Level

We've said it before and we'll say it again: Refinery29's Shopping team is here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. As the good product sleuths that we are, we're always looking to enhance our tools of the trade with the latest e-commerce innovations that will make your online-shopping experience even more seamless. And now, the latest and greatest addition to our offerings has arrived: on-site shopping.

On-site shopping (aka native checkout), simply means that, from here on out, you'll be able to save any of the products from a wide range of brands and retailers that we recommend in select stories to an all-encompassing shopping cart that will live right here on our site. This means you can buy everything (or just one thing) in a few clicks without ever needing to open up a new tab or window.

If you’re a veteran online shopper (which we bet you are), you’ll recognize the interface of the widget that pops up when you click on any product links featured in on-site-checkout-compatible stories onsite. It will be equipped with all the nitty-gritty you need to know to make an informed decision; the item’s detailed specs, shipping lead times, and return policy.

You can add as much or as little as you like to your Refinery29 cart — no matter which retailer the product is coming from, it will all be collected in your on-site basket.

Once you’ve carted up the goods you desire, you can toggle over to the right side of your screen, review your selection, and hit “Secure Checkout” (yes — it’s totally encrypted) and then complete your address, payment information (at the moment, this includes Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Afterpay — other payment methods are forthcoming), and confirm your order. Any sales that the brand is running will be automatically displayed. We can’t honor promo codes or gift cards yet, but it’s in the pipeline.

Once you’ve placed your order, sit back and wait for your stuff to roll in. Each product will be dispatched by the original retailer, but if you have a question about your purchase, it can be directed to the brand-new, vetted customer service team that we've enlisted to help with any purchases made on our site. In sum, we’re setting up shop so that our humble online abode feels just as familiar as your favorite online shopping haunt, with lightning-fast checkout, safely stored credit card information, and the same perks and level of service from a megawatt online retailer.

If Most Wanted is already your browsing ride-or-die, we hope this tool takes our relationship to the next level; helping you shop holistically with someone whose taste you really, really trust. (Aw, shucks.) With our on-site checkout tool, you don’t need to leave our site to take advantage of all of our recommendations. There’s no need to open a new tab and browse away from our domain when you see something that might spark joy — you can now take advantage of a shopping cart that will live right here on our dot-com, where you can save anything you fancy from one of our stories. And, just as with any retailer worth their salt, your cart will stay current as you digitally window-shop from story to story in search of that problem-solving purchase, game-changing gift, or mood-boosting must-have.

We’re excited to roll out this feature on trend-style stories that feature lots of different stores and brands, where your browsing experience might be disrupted by leaving the page to visit a retailer’s website. There are also plenty of big-box shops (Target, Sephora, DSW) whose vast inventories and sometimes less-than-ideal online merchandising can make browsing more of a headache than the joyful carting experience it should be. With native checkout, we’re all about trying to keep the shopping experience simple. We’ll still be doing what we’ve always done with these retailers — you know, sussing out only the goods worth your attention — only now you can stay on Refinery29.com to enjoy the fruits of our filtering and cart up your choices right here. (And then, of course, check out.)

You might be wondering where you’ll be able to test-drive this feature ASAP, and the short answer is: lots of places. In the coming weeks, you can be on the lookout for a new boilerplate on stories that are native-checkout enabled, letting you know that you’ll be able to use the feature on the page in question. We’ll be tacking it on to more and more of our content as the year progresses, so look out for the e-com treatment on trend-style roundups, dedicated retailer deep-dives, and more.

If you’re dying to try the new shopping technique right this second, we’d like to point you in the direction of our latest installment of Target Hidden Gems. Target’s endlessly shoppable dot-com can paralyze the most capable of decision-makers, and you might have found yourself desperate for an assistant as your attention was split between navigating the surprisingly excellent beauty selection or the bulk buying the retailer’s latest designer collaboration. With the ability to check out on Refinery29.com, you can close all those red-dot tabs and click through our slideshow of editor-approved favorites knowing that the best (and the hardest to find) Target gems are right there in front of you.

We'll be continuing to roll out more on-site checkout content as it makes sense and best serves your shopping needs, so keep your eyes peeled and your clickers at the ready.